Reference no: EM132611629

Assignment: Final Paper

For your Final Paper, you will apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course to analyze and interpret a dataset containing health-related variables to answer health research questions.

Due to the current increase of diabetes in children, studying factors that affect its occurrence and evolution is very important. Obesity is one of the key factors affecting childhood diabetes and health practitioners frequently use the Body Mass Index (B.M.I.) to assess whether or not a child is obese. In the attached Excel document, you will find data on the B.M.I., Fasting Blood Sugar Levels (F.B.S.), gender (Male or Female), and the clinic where this information was collected (clinic A, B, or C) for a group of children age 10-14.

The purpose of your study is to analyze any possible relationships among the given variables. There are three tabs at the bottom of the Excel file which represent different data set pages: "All Variables", "B.M.I. of Boys and Girls", and "F.B.S. by Clinic". The "All Variables" page is formatted the way you would typically see this data displayed in current data analysis. The first column represents the subject's I.D. number, the second column denotes gender (M/F), the third is B.M.I., and the last is their F.B.S level. Each row corresponds to a child in the dataset, with his/her corresponding characteristics. For example, the study participant with the I.D. number 10 is a boy (Gender=M), who was assessed at clinic B, has a B.M.I. of 28 and an F.B.S. of 92.

Any statistical analyses needed for this paper, including the corresponding Excel steps and procedures, are explained in your course text with the exception of providing descriptive statistics (frequencies) for nominal variables. Descriptive statistics procedures for continuous variables are included in Chapter 1 of your course text. Instructions and information on descriptive statistics (frequencies) for nominal variables are provided in the How to make a frequency distribution table for nominal data in Excel resource.

Your Final Paper must contain the following:

1. Describe the study participants in terms of gender, clinic where data was collected, B.M.I., and F.B.S. Present the descriptive analyses for all the variables (with the exception of I.D. #). Explain why each descriptive analysis was chosen. Use the Descriptive Statistics option in Excel for continuous variables. Use appropriate charts. Utilize the Excel pivot table/pivot chart and the How to make a frequency distribution table for nominal data in Excel instructions for nominal variables. Interpret your results.

2. Assess how B.M.I. varies by gender. Use the tab "B.M.I. of Boys and Girls" in this Excel document. These are the same study subjects described in the "All Variables" tab, but the data on gender and B.M.I. is set up in a way that will facilitate running the statistical analysis to assess whether there is a difference between the B.M.I. of boys and girls. What test will you use? What does the test reveal?

3. Analyze F.B.S. by clinic. There are three clinics (A, B, C) and data is ready for your analysis in the "F.B.S. by Clinic" tab of this Excel document. What statistical analysis is most appropriate? Why? What do the results indicate?

4. Correlate F.B.S. with B.M.I. What correlation coefficient will you use? Why? Report the correlation coefficient and explain whether this is a statistically significant correlation. Explain what it means for two variables to have a statistically significant correlation. The steps for running a correlation in Excel are described in Section 8.4 of your course text.

5. Run a simple linear regression predicting F.B.S. from B.M.I. Report your results. Does F.B.S. increase or decrease with B.M.I.? What components of the output do you read and interpret to answer this question? Write the regression equation and include it in your paper. The steps for running a linear regression in Excel are described in Section 9.3 of your course text.

6. What analysis would you employ to determine whether boys and girls were assessed in similar proportions in each of the three clinics? Explain and justify your choice. You do not have to run this analysis; just identify the one you would choose.

7. Multiple regression is a form of multivariate analysis and constitutes a way to accommodate multiple predictors of one dependent variable, considered all at the same time. It is used commonly in health research as a control for other variables when researching the effect of one variable of interest. It is also frequently used to explain more variance in the dependent variable. What additional variables would you want to control when predicting F.B.S. from B.M.I.? These can be variables in your dataset or other variables you think are relevant that are not in your data set. Identify at least three control variables. Why did you select these three in particular?

8. State your conclusions and formulate a discussion of your findings. Would you like to know anything else about this participant sample? What further research would you do? Why? Refer to glucose levels, diabetes, other related variables, and available research on the topic of diabetes in children as well as the analyses that you performed. Support your response with at least two to three scholarly, peer-reviewed articles.

Writing the Final Paper

The Final Paper:

1. Must thoroughly and completely address all questions and requirements listed above. Graphs, tables, outputs, and equations should be included. They must be clearly titled and explained. To show your outputs, simply copy and paste your results from Excel into the assignment Word document.

2. Must be a minimum of eight pages in length (excluding title and reference pages). Your assignment will be assessed based on how well you have answered the components of each of the eight questions above.

3. Must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

4. Must include a title page with the following:

• Title of paper

• Student's name

• Course name and number

• Instructor's name

• Date submitted

5. Must address the topics with critical thought.

6. Must use at least two to three scholarly, peer-reviewed, articles which are required to answer Question #8.

7. Must document all sources in APA style and include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.